Putting the Sky in Skylark
by Sydella
Summary: Hibari wants to know how he got here, in this endless war of love. Pairing: 1827


Like a ghost, he materialises out of the Mafia's dark underbelly. Clouds of violet flames surround him as he bows and kisses his Sky's hand.

"Hibari-san." Tsuna smiles and contemplates the most distant of his Guardians. "Where have you been hiding, hm?"

The skylark does not smile back. "Information-gathering requires a great deal of time, as you very well know."

Tsuna inclines his head regally. "Naturally. And what have you found out?"

"Ever since your ascension, the Vongola's reputation has improved." Hibari leans forward and kisses his cheek gently, almost absently. "We are no longer seen as tyrants, but as saviours. Protectors of the weak, if you will."

Tsuna tips his head back and laughs. It's the soft, melodic chant of a fallen angel. "Excellent. It's just what Primo would have wanted."

Hibari whispers into Tsuna's ear: "Is it also what you want?"

"Who knows?" Tsuna strokes Natsu's head; the little cub has grown into a fearsome adult lion. "Anything can happen. But if I wanted to, shall we say, go against Primo's wishes, rebelling from inside the system would be a fool-proof way to go about it. Don't you agree?"

"I do agree." Hibari kisses Tsuna's cheek again, then turns and walks away. As the skylark leaves, he can feel the weight of his Sky's gaze on his back, assessing him.

Beginnings can also be endings.

X

Once, Hibari entered a nightclub owned by the Vongola, only to find Tsuna seated at the bar. The young don was surrounded by an assortment of consorts and hangers-on. Haru and Kyoko sat on either side of him and observed Hibari with a faint air of disdain.

Tsuna barely acknowledged his Cloud Guardian. He was already well into his umpteenth drink for the night, yet his eyes were clear. Over the years, he had developed an impressive level of alcohol tolerance. Even Xanxus had grudgingly remarked that Tsuna was "finally starting to man up".

"Hibari-san, may I ask what are you doing here?" Kyoko asked politely.

"You may." Hibari could feel the beginnings of a headache in his temples. For some reason, it irked him that Tsuna was not paying attention to him. "I've been meaning to talk to the bartender here. My sources inform me that he has valuable information about the Pesca."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Don't let us keep you, then." She pointed at the other end of the bar, where the bartender was wiping the counter. "There he is."

"Yes, I see him." Hibari walked away. It struck him that he was always the first one to walk away in his interactions with others. A loner since birth, he prided himself on his ability to remain independent of other people's influence. All the same, he couldn't help but wonder if Tsuna had affected him more than he cared to admit.

Later that night, on his way out of the club, Hibari glanced back at Tsuna. The young don was staring into space. Haru fed him something from a finely carved porcelain bowl that probably cost more than Hibari's entire house. Closing the door to the club, Hibari breathed deeply. For the first time in many years, the fresh air of Namimori did nothing to soothe the skylark.

Somehow, he felt that he had lost something, though he did not know what or how.

X

On days when dust motes swirl like ballerinas through the air, Hibari wakes to find Tsuna in his bed. These days, his Sky wears nightclothes all the time, instead of the charming kimono that a smirking Hibari used to teasingly tug at. Tsuna now calmly apologises for intruding and slips out of the house before Hibari can stop him.

Hibird sings a sad song, a lament for some inexpressible sentiment while its owner smiles mirthlessly and simply says, "I know."

And he remembers.

X

" _Small animal, watch my fight closely."_

A wide-eyed, admiring look from Tsuna and Hibari was almost happy. Ice sculptures shattered all around him and as the downtrodden Suzuki girl glared at him, he felt like he was on the cusp of something. Nightmarish and lovely, the Mafia would never let him leave. More importantly, a certain small animal had caught his eye and he wanted to know how everything would end. He had a terrible curiosity about the future and what it entailed-whether they would still be a family at the end of the day, or perhaps everything would fall apart. Skylarks can only hope that the Sky will always be there.

 _I'll bite you to death, small animal. Just you wait._

X

Tsuna laughs hysterically. The young don's dark suit is splattered with blood and he careens wildly through the Vongola's most recent battlefield, killing enemies left right and centre.

"Tenth, please stop!" Gokudera wails, but Tsuna is oblivious to everything except a Mafia boss's bloodlust. The last opponents go screaming to their deaths and Tsuna casually steps on a dead man's face. Hibari is still reeling when Tsuna looks up at him and says, with the coldest and evillest smile the skylark has ever seen, "I wonder if there's a special part of Hell reserved for me, Hibari-san."

He wakes up gasping. _Oh, it was just a nightmare. Thank whatever gods there may be._

"Are you all right?" the unmistakable sound of Tsuna's voice reaches his ears.

To his left, Tsuna is sitting up in bed and watching an early-morning television news broadcast. Hibari stares at him for a moment and mutters: "I could ask you the same thing."

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." Tsuna yawns and stretches in a rather catlike manner. "Say, do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry."

"Tetsu will cook something for you if you just ask him to," Hibari replies, still staring.

"Okay." Tsuna slides out of bed. Hibari makes a move to stop him, but then thinks better of it. Soon the house is filled with the aroma of Kusakabe's cooking. The three males eat breakfast together in companionable silence.

Over the clink of cutlery and Kusakabe's friendly banter with Tsuna, Hibari's mind is buzzing. He silently observes Tsuna, who has been seeming a little happier of late. "You are so talented, Kusakabe-san," the young don says cheerfully, causing Foundation's stoic second-in-command to blush.

"Ah, don't say that, Sawada-kun."

"Why not?" Tsuna eats a piece of tuna (the irony) and looks at Kusakabe thoughtfully. "It's the truth. If you ever open a restaurant, I'm sure even Yamamoto's father would not be able to compete with you."

"Tetsu is my lieutenant," Hibari says acidly. "His life and responsibilities are here, with me. Don't give him the wrong idea, small animal."

Tsuna does not look at him. "Who died and made you king, Hibari-san?" Without waiting for a response, Tsuna abruptly stands and takes his plate to the kitchen, washing and drying it at the sink. "Thanks for the meal, Kusakabe-san," he calls out as he leaves.

"Ah, no problem," Kusakabe says, looking uneasy.

The door clicks shut. Kusakabe glances at Hibari, evidently torn between loyalty and misery. "Kyo-san, Sawada-kun didn't mean any harm-"

"How do you know that?" Hibari is seething. "Do you know something that I don't? Because I sure as hell stopped trying to understand that herbivore a long time ago." With that, the Cloud Guardian stomps away.

But when he calms down, Hibari finds himself reaching for the phone to call Tsuna. Theirs is an odd dynamic, he thinks. Not quite friends but definitely allies, not enemies but they have a bizarre, almost romantic rivalry. Oh, this tenuous and beautiful thing they have.

Tsuna's cell phone rings and rings, and Hibari waits.

X

In the aftermath of the fight against the Vindice, there was a time when Hibari held Tsuna close. That brief contact, a snapshot of painful clarity, made the day a little brighter. Tsuna snuggled against him and it felt wonderfully intimate, but then the other Guardians sought Tsuna out and Hibari let him go, releasing his Sky back into the collective embrace of the Vongola.

Strangely enough, Mukuro of all people empathises with Hibari. "I've seen inside his mind, you know," the Mist Guardian says, casually leaning against Hibari's doorway.

"Have you, now." Hibari feels a little cold despite the warm weather and represses an involuntary shudder. "Tell me, Mukuro, do you know how it feels to love and lose someone?"

Mukuro smiles, but the upturning of his lips does not reach his eyes. "I do know. I know very well."

Hibari strokes Hibird's head, aware that Mukuro is watching him. "I'm trying to think of a way to describe this feeling." He looks up and the two Guardians stare at each other. This time, Mukuro is the first to break eye contact and walk away before they get into a real fight.

In the distance, Tsuna slowly cycles past Hibari's house. A girl, probably either Haru or Kyoko, walks beside him. Mukuro seems to take no notice of them, but when he is almost out the door, he pauses and looks back at the skylark.

"It feels like Hell, Hibari Kyoya." For a moment, just a moment, the Mist Guardian is a bewildering mix of terrifying and vulnerable-a mirror image of Hibari's inner turmoil. "It feels just like your very own personal Hell."


End file.
